PAGES 12, 13 and 14 of Saturday’s National were devoted to Kate Forbes’s visit to Scotland’s newest whisky distillery at Cabrach. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy attended a ceremony with more than 100 guests, including members of the local community. She is pictured with a glass of the whisky in her hand. Apparently Cabrach is where three legal distilleries thrived following the introduction of legal production in 1823.
READ MORE: Scotch whisky production returns to village after more than 170 years
Ms Forbes inspected the distillery stillhouse as the first spirit flowed through the spirit safe. She later delivered a speech reflecting on “the bravery of the project” and the “transformational” economic impact of the site. She said: “The Cabrach Distillery was one of the first projects to secure monies from the Just Transition Fund, a £75 million Scottish Government initiative to create jobs and support innovation across the North East and Moray. As a social enterprise and whisky distillery it’s a unique part of the vibrant food and drink sector which makes a valuable contribution to the national and local economies. Today’s ceremony signals the start of a new chapter for The Cabrach and its ambitions to be a leading example of community-led, rural regeneration.”
As was pointed out by letters from John F Robbins and Brian Lawson on page 22 of the very same Saturday National, the Scottish Government policy is to use Minimum Unit Pricing to increase the cost of alcohol, including whisky, in order to reduce its consumption. It is clear, from Ms Forbes’s reference to the Just Transition Fund that the creation of this new whisky production facility has been subsidised by the Scottish taxpayer.
READ MORE: Kate Forbes: New whisky distillery offers us an optimistic vision of regeneration
The Scottish Government appears to have created a situation worthy of the pages of George Orwell’s novel 1984. Last week whisky was a horrible health hazard needing to have its price increased to discourage its use by the proles. This week it is a “unique part of the vibrant food and drink sector which makes a valuable contribution to the national and local economies”.
This political doublethink exhibited by Ms Forbes and the Scottish Government is simply breathtaking.
Iain Wilson
Stirling
THE weekly anti-SNP/Scottish Government newsletter from Brian Lawson on October 21 closed with a paragraph which raised my eyebrows a little. I refer to his “I’m lost for words” assertion, which, due to naivety on my part, I believed. However, on October 26 another newsletter appeared, revealing that Brian’s vow of silence was actually an untruth of Sawarian proportions.
However, I noted he revisited a topic covered in a previous edition, namely the scandalous cost of alcohol due to minimum pricing.
READ MORE: Whisky lovers in call for refund amid row over 'unbranded' spirit
I must admit I have noted bars in my locality whose patrons, on leaving the premises, have a walking style which suggest the cost of a decent night on the bevvy is staggering. Indeed, many will bellow long into the night due to the sheer injustice of it all.
I also note the letter of October 26 repeated the fact that the price of a bottle of whisky has soared by £4.
At this juncture I must confess to being very partial to a nice malt myself, but as I don’t buy my whisky by the bottle, I manage to get by.
Finally, I must raise the matter of the minimum pricing add-on sum. I hope Mr Lawson will forgive me for saying, but he sounds slightly tetchy that it goes into the bulging coffers of the retailers. If Brian suspects they some how don’t pay tax on it, I think we should be told!
Malcolm Cordell
Dundee
WHY on earth, in this 24-hour on-the-go society, do we still follow the wartime custom of changing the clocks back every October, in spite of research proving that it increases accidents by more than 10%? This result should be no surprise, as it not only disrupts our natural body clock, instead of it adjusting gradually, but involves drivers, pedestrians and even children going home from school, tired from a day’s work, probably having reduced concentration and reactions. It also impacts severely on the mental health of those who suffer seasonal affective disorder and start to dread it weeks in advance, as I know to my cost.
READ MORE: Stop all the clocks? Experts call for the end of British Summer Time
Moreover, why do we have to wait until 13 weeks after the winter solstice for clocks to go forward, when the autumn change is eight weeks ahead of it? I am sure that scrapping this change could have beneficial effects on the NHS and other emergency services. It must surely be time to let our brains deal with changing light levels as nature intended.
P Davidson
Falkirk
ARE we on the edge of a nuclear war in the Middle East?
Never has our clever species invented a weapon which has not been used. The atomic bomb brought an end to the Second World war. Many hoped the mass bloodshed it created would teach us a lesson.
The safety of our present civilisation is in the hands of half a dozen dictators, and once a dictator’s back is to the wall he or she will lash out. Other than sending aid to the victims of a war zone, Scotland would be wise not get involved. The need for Scottish independence, minus Trident, has never been more obvious. Let sanity prevail.
Iain R Thomson
Strathglass
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